GSK “Open Innovation Agenda,” Possible Malaria Vaccine

CEO Andrew Witty of UK pharmaceutical manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline today announced the launch of an agenda on “open innovation,” through which it promises increased flexibility over its intellectual property as well as partnerships in which its facilities, infrastructure, and actual chemical compounds are accessible to researchers.

Last year, GSK caused a stir when it announced that it would contribute to a patent pool for neglected diseases. In today’s speech at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, Witty said that BIO Ventures for Global Health, a non-profit that works on biotechnology for neglected diseases, would take over management of what it is now calling a “proprietary knowledge pool” to reflect the intent to share more than patents.

As a part of this intent, GSK announced that it will make 13,500 compounds related to the deadliest strain of malaria freely available to researchers and the public.

They also announced they are “on the cusp” of the world’s first malaria vaccine. If it works, they said, they will set prices to generate a “small return” after the recoup of stated research and development costs, and asked for partnership with donors in order to make the vaccine available. They did not name specific numbers for the price plan.

Witty’s full speech is available here [pdf].

Tido on Schoen-Angerer, executive director of the Médecins Sans Frontières access to essential medicines campaign, praised the move as “in principle a good step.” He also said a new adjuvant (an agent that facilitates patient response to a vaccine) being developed in conjunction with the malaria vaccine has potentially wide commercial applications.